Building tile



Patented Nov. l5, 1932 UNITED. STATES HENRY ri STEVENS', oFJAoxsonviL/LE, nnoninaiissieiion 'ro .fsrniinns,

" jjoFNEwYoRKjnY. .1

BUILDING TILE Applicatie-milled May 1, 1930, Serial No. 449,033.' Renewed Detober 6, 1932. '.lr" Y' The ordinary building tileis difficult to lay rapidly because its rough, wire-cut ends tear the hands and its b ulk is such that it must be A.

grasped with two hands. Various ways have been devised to make a. tile that can be carried by one hand. It is the purpose of.

my invention to secure this result in a better way than has been done heretofore, beth in regard to economy in production and greater ease of handling. type have all been designed to provide a handle which could be grasped by the lingers and thumb, for which purpose two parallel slots were made in one or more walls of the tile on v In ard forin offtile vwith my invention lapplied opposite sides of one of the inner webs. some cases narrow ledges were made to facili-V tate the grasping.

According to my invention the tiles are not provided with a handle to be grasped, but ak single hole is made to receive the fingers only and this hole is so located that the fingers can y at the middle joint and extend under the up-v per wall far enough to have the edge of theV hole come about half way between the termi-v nal and intermediate joints or beyond. For the average mans fingers the distance across this unobstructed surface should be about one and one half inches. This mak-es it unnecessary to grasp the tile; in fact, a tile which rests with this broad surface on the fin-` gers can be carried with greater ease and comfort than one having narrow ledges which must be grasped. The upper wall being ordinarily of the saine thickness as the, other Walls, namely not more than a few eighths of an inch, it is not necessary to insert the hand beyond the base of the lingers; consequently the knuckles at this point are not in danger of being scratched by the edge of the hole. Also the fingers are thinner than The prior devices of this' theliand att-he a'nari'owerhole y will admit them than wouldp'be requiredfor a deeperinsertion of the hand. smaller hole means less weakening of .the tile and-liess warping during burning. l

In speaking of the centerof bailainie.v ofthen .tile I refer to that point in the planeofthe upper wa-ll ofthe tile'. which lies directly abovethe center of gravityof the tilef'when the'latter is in the. position it Vwill assume when embodied ina vertical wall.

In the drawings I have shown several forms of the invention by way of example.;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view' of one stand- Fig. 2 is a transverse section through aportion of the `tile shown Fig. l, including the'hole, and showing a lef-t hand in posi tion to liftthe tile,r y Fig.` 3 is a perspective y vjiew of another standard form of tile showing iny invention appliedina slightly different way,

Figli is a' perspective viewof a tile similar to that shown inpF l', but k with my `invention applied in still a different way,

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of al narrow tile showing how the hand hole can be applier.

vto a vertical wall fat the height of thelower surface ofthe top wall, y v v Fig. 6 is a transverse section'tlirougli a portion'of the tile shown in Fig.'` 5, including the holeA and showing a left hand in lifting position. r 1 l The tile'shown in Fig. l is confiposedk of yvertical outside walls 1,'vertical intermediate 'Webs 2, a top wall 3 having depressed middle portion La bottom wallf', and horizontal reinforcing webs 6. Ingtlie depressed portion l.of the top wallV is an'eloiigated hole 7 arranged with "its long axis parallel to the webs of the tile. "As shown in lFigjQ, this holeis adapted to 'receive the fingers Vof a manshand, which can beextended under-fthe J.

broad lower surface of the Wall The fingers support the tile substantially at its center of'balance and the breadth of the supporting surface makesitunnecessary to grasp the wall. f lie'tile can. therefore .becarried with the greatest possible ease and without tiring the masons hand.

Fig. 3 shows a tile similar to Fig. 1 except that the middle portion l of the upper wall is not depressed, a horizontal web 8 is added in the middle portion, and the hole 7 is arranged transversely and slightly to one side of the center of balance of the tile, so that when the fingers are inserted and directedV vtoward the longer sectionof the tile they wil come under the center of balance.

In many casesit will be desirableto have the hole-at the center of balance of the tile `so that the fingers can be inserted in either direction and still have the support come near enough to the center of balance -forpractical purposes. Such a tile is shown in Fig. 4. If necessary,this 'tile can be perfectly 'balanced Vby a light pressure ofthe thumb on the top.

and flexed, to contact the upper wall and support the tile by said flexed fingers.

2. A building tile comprising walls defining a plurality of voids, an upper wall of said tile having a hole therein located at the center of balance of the tile, thelower surface of said upper wall being unobstructed lon each side of said hole for a distance substantially greaterthan the distance .from the end of a mansmiddle finger to the terminal joint to permit the fingers to vbe inserted and flexed to contact said upper wall andv support the tile by said flexed fingers.

. HENRY STEVENS.

Figs. 5 and 6 show how the object of my Y linvention can be secured with a narrow tile per wall 3. In this case the fingers can be insertedfull length under the upper wall and thereby rest substantially under the centerv f that the fingers can .extend under the top Wall and support the tile substantially at its center of balance, the lower surface of the top wall being for this purpose unobstructed for a distance from the hole which will permit'the fingers to be flexed to extend under the upper wall far enough to bring the .edge of the hole about halfway between the terminal and intermediate joints or beyond. The unobstructed surface may, of course, be still longer. In the case of a reversible tile there may be a plurality of independent holeseach arranged so that the fingers can be inserted under any wall which may be a top wall, and narrow tiles may have holes at each side, as shown in Fig. 6. Tiles having holes in two opposite walls can be picked up easily no matter what side or end they are lying on.

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. A building tile comprising walls defining one or more voids, one'of said walls having a hole .therein of such size and conformation as to permit the insertion of amans fingers, said hole being located so as to permit the fingers to be Yflexed to extend along the lower kface of an upper wall of said tile adj acent the center of balance thereof, said lower face being unobstructed for a distance -of about one and one half inches or greaterfrorn said hole to permit the fingers to be so inserted 

